This invention relates generally to automobile upholstery, trim panels and the like. More specifically, it relates to an improved apparatus for manufacturing upholstery plain and sewn seat inserts, trim panels, etc. for vehicles.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,289 issued July 1, 1972 to Mark and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, discloses a method and apparatus for manufacturing piped covering materials for upholstery and the like. The Mark patent concerns the formation of substantially parallel slits in riser material, the pleating or pressing of the fabric into slits to form pipes and the sewing of the fabric to the riser on the backing at the bottom of each of the slits. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,755 issued July 14, 1970 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,707 issued Oct. 31, 1972 disclose apparatus for making heat-sealed articles with heat and tear seal seams. The present invention concerns an improved sewing, cutting and heat sealing in-line apparatus for producing vehicle upholstery inserts and the like which incorporates novel control features including a photoelectric sensing arrangement for a platen press operated cutting and heat sealing die.
A definition of some of the terms which will be referred to herein are defined below.
The term "insert" is meant to specify a cut and heat sealed multi-layer laminate seat cushion member such as a decorative surface material, a layer of foam material and a reinforcing layer of fabric material. The term also includes a single layer seat cushion member cut from a panel.
The term "riser" is meant in general to specify rubber or non-rubber materials fabricated in such a way as to have interstitial voids providing a certain amount of resilience to the touch and capable of recovering is shape when temporary deforming pressures are removed.
The term "fabric" is meant any cover or surface material including leather, plastic material, i.e., vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride and other similar synthetics formed into flexible sheets with finishes simulating leather, woven fabrics, etc., and body cloth material such as those formed of woven fabrics of the naturally, synthetic and glass type.
The term "bonding material" between the fabric and the riser is meant to include a heat reactivating adhesive film or spray coating pre-applied to the riser pad, heat reactivating glue, hot melt powder, hot melt sheeting or netting, thermo setting glue sheeting, etc. The bonding material may be loose or preapplied to the riser pad or body cloth.
The term "cut and seal process" is a process used to bond body cloth to a riser only on the perimeter by a heat sealed strip of predetermined width while during the same operation cutting the perimeter of an insert outside of the sealed strip. The cut and seal process replaces sewing or tacking and subsequent cutting while producing a dimensionally correct seat insert.
The term "panel" is meant to include a discreet rectangular shaped fabric article that is conveyed in an intermittent manner to the cut and heat sealing platen press.